Verstappen: "Can't call retirements bad luck anymore"
- Published on 27 Aug 2017 17:36
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Max Verstappen was left highly frustrated following the Belgian Grand Prix as the race delivered yet another retirement for the Dutchman. Verstappen's tough season continues as his DNF at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps marks his seventh premature race end of the year.
Tens of thousands of Dutch fans descended on the iconic circuit to watch Verstappen, but it ended in bitter disappointment midway through the race as he was forced to pull over on the Kemmel straight with yet another engine problem.
"Frustrated, disappointed and just really not happy," Verstappen said following his return to the paddock "For a top team, this can't happen. At the beginning you can say bad luck, these things happen. But if it's happening again for the sixth time this year, you can't call it bad luck any more.
"The fans buy very expensive tickets to come and watch the race and then after eight laps it's finished. Also it's just really demotivating because you work hard all weekend, you have a great qualifying and you're looking forward to the race but then you retire after eight laps. I don't know what to say – it's just a very tough year."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (9)
Login to replyf1ski
Posts: 726
Not the first time that a driver may need to look in the mirror to find the answer to his "bad luck" relative to their teammate. He must damage the electronics or the MGU H on his car with his driving style. Or perhaps he changes the settings on his car to get more performance
but it causes the car to break. To easy to blame the car. Look at Ricciardo and Hulkenbergs finishes this weekend
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Maybe, but I dont think thats all there is to it. We have seen that some driving styles tend to stress the various components (mainly MGU-H it seems) more than others, but even then, that doesnt justify the raw amount of retirements Verstappen has had. Looking at it, Renault-powered teams do on an average have more engine-related retirements than the Honda-powered McLaren, the worst package on the grid. Thats pretty lame, especially seeing as Renault could release upgrades to mend these issues this year, but has decided not to. No, at the end of the day, Renault has to have some blame for this.
FatMike
Posts: 153
Always good to see a redbull mechanic posting the answer. Thanks for your amazing insight.
In short: there are a ton of variables that make it impossible to compare two drivers, their cars and teams behind them. It is IMPOSSIBLE to out qualify your teammate so many painful times and at the same time in the race the material doesn't hold.
Your hulk Ric comparison is complete balls. Palmer has, beside his bad luck, been consistently outpaced, outscored and outdriven. Not only that overdriving means trying to hard causing you to make mistakes. For the rest ppl are miss-using the term to try and say something smart despite their ignorance
f1ski
Posts: 726
not saying he lacks pace but the way he drives may be a contributing factor.
NEXT SPARE VAMP
Posts: 1,874
Nowadays it's even impossible to damage the electronics or the MGU with your driving style. Software is protecting that. So please no more B*llsh*t!
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
Your answer is a bad joke. They are driving Formula 1 cars, not a Nissan Micra. Renault does a really bad job here. All the teams with Renault engines have to many problems according to the other teams , even Honda. RBR is a top team, they should put much more pressure on Renault to perform better. Maybe RBR should start talking with Porsche or Cosworth
Pherocks
Posts: 610
He finished almost every race last year so its not his driving style like some suggest here.
And do you guys not think that if he would overdrive his car so many times Horner or Renault would not say this in the press or speak to Max that he needs to tone down his speed without us knowing this ?
Come on people....
Barron
Posts: 625
Max doesn't call it bad luck any more, so he's on the verge of naming an elephant in the room. And that really would be silly. There's a million ways a PU can fail, and Renault will know if there's a pattern, plus, all the parts are his, they're not swapped around with DR. If there is a common denominator it will be quite evident in the software, but Max seems to be on the verge of saying that's it's deliberate which is nonsense. He also ought to learn that the race doesn't stop if he retires. I must admit though, he does have an unfortunate record this year.
f1ski
Posts: 726
Fancy this with the new energy harvest systems electrical energy is produced under tracking and via the turbo. A driver who trail brakes heavily and is back on the throttle while still on the this could potentially conflicting scenarios where the turbo is being asked to perform more than one job at a given time. I recall that hamilton last year had issues in the beginning of the season and the solution was a turbo fix. I seem to have noticed lewis is not locking uptake inside front like he used to which tells me he isn't trail baking like he used to in the past. These scenarios could lead to vibration and heat "killers " of electronic components. Without hardware software doesn't run. Remember to finish first you have to first finish. Verstappen is a genius behind the wheel. Sees places to pass and how to execute like no one before but i think his style might be harder on the equipment.